The day started out with the shuttle van to New Orleans. The driver, Mr. Fedderman (he gave his first name, but I've forgotten it), is one of the owners of the campground, and loves to talk about the city he has called home for a few decades. He gave a very entertaining tour of some of New Orleans on the way to the French Quarter, passing various points of interest like ball fields, churches, and graveyards. After driving through some of the quarter, he dropped us off at the Old US Mint, and it was time to walk.
The Mint is open for free, but hadn't opened yet, so I decided to check out Snug Harbor, one of the city's most famous jazz clubs. Unfortunately, it was closed, as I kind of expected, since it is a night club, and there was some movie being shot on the street in front of it, with a pompous guy telling me I couldn't take pictures on a public street. I took an extra picture as I walked away, toward the French Market.
It was still early, and most of the French Market was just setting up their shops. I walked through it, browsing a little, but I don't travel to shop, and I didn't see much of interest. I continued down Decatur St., still walking through the occasional shop, which is most of what lines that street, along with a few restaurants. I turned down Toulouse, to pick up my ticket for the riverboat.
Riverboat Natchez
I arrived at the dock a little early, so I wandered around on the sea wall for a little while. Shortly, a woman appeared on top of the stam boat and started playing a steam boat powered organ, which was entertaining for a while.
Upon boarding the riverboat, I went into the dining room to get lunch, which was fried catfish, and the usual sides you'd expect in New Orleans. It was decent, though I certainly could have gotten a better meal ashore. Unfortunately, when I boarded, I didn't know that the jazz trio wouldn't be playing until the return trip, so I ate, then headed out to explore the boat.
The steamboat consists of 3 levels that were accessible to the customers. I was on the second deck, so I walked around the deck, checking out the scenery, including one of the largest sugar processing plants in the world. Then I headed to the third deck, a sun deck, that was more crowded than the second deck. On this deck was a bar and a gift shop, both of which I walked into. The bar, located toward the stern of the boat, is surrounded by a covered area with tables, which was also crowded.
I decided to head on down to the first deck, looked in the boiler room (kind of hard to read them in the small size, but Boiler#2 is Thelma, and Boiler#1 is Louise), peeked into the kitchen, and walked around the engine room to check out the dual 1925 steam engines that originally equipped the Clairton.
After checking out the engine room, and the lower perspective of the wheel, the ship reversed course, so I headed back to the dining room, where the jazz trio had started playing. I listened for a while, then went back to the upper deck to watch the city get closer as we came in to port.
Explore French Quarter
After disembarking, I checked out a couple of street performers that were at the seawall. Then I headed out to explore the quarter. I walked around for a few hours, checking out the odd shop, but mostly just watching people around the city. In front of the St Louis Cathedral was a group of about 20-25 local guys playing jazz. They were awesome, so I gave them a tip before walking into the cathedral.
After walking around the quarter for a few hours, I went back to the Old Mint, and checked it out.
I still had about an hour left before the KOA shuttle arrived, so I went back to the French Market to see if there was anything of interest, and because I was getting a little hungry. I ended up stopping at the Magnolia Grill, where I ordered a muffuletta and a water. Even though I'm not a fan of olives, I really enjoyed the sandwich and the fries that were served with it. While muffuletta sandwiches are served all around New Orleans, the cook at Magnolia Grill serves his grilled. Though I haven't tried a cold version, I thought the heat and the pressing of the grill worked really well with it, and don't think a cold version would be nearly as good.
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